Horror and comedy in the image of death. Discuss the issue on the basis of “Master Polycarp’s Conversation with Death”. Answer to the oral exam 2023

Entry: In our culture, death is associated with deep sadness and mourning. It is still a taboo topic, not much is said about what the last moment of a person’s life looks like. The thought that our loved ones will die one day is denied because it is too painful. Meanwhile, in the Middle Ages, when due to epidemics and undeveloped medicine, people died much more often than today, the subject of death was much more common.

Argument: Artists, especially those from the Middle Ages, presented the image of death using horror and comedy, which were supposed to encourage people to reflect on the inevitability of human life and show that death is natural.

Arguments from “Master Polycarp’s Conversation with Death”: The flagship medieval work that shows the image of death is “Master Polycarp’s Conversation with Death”. Death was personified in it, and thus presented as a person. Master Polycarp asked to see her as she is. So a terrifying woman appeared to him: bald, with a scarf on her head, thin, pale and with a yellow face. She had no nose or lips, she was all shiny, and her eyes were bleeding. To Polycarp she appeared to be a cannibal, gnashed her teeth, had a crooked face, and held a scythe in her hand.

The figure of death presented in the work looked like a corpse or a person suffering from one of the infectious diseases spreading in the Middle Ages. Such an image terrified and aroused fears not only in the protagonist (Polykarp, seeing Death, falls to the ground, he is frightened), but also in the viewer of the time. It is worth recalling the beginning of the song here. It begins with an apostrophe, initially to God, and then to people who do not want to hear about death. The lyrical subject addresses them, emphasizing that everyone will have to know death someday. The terrifying figure of the woman and the terror contained in her image were to remind man of the slogan of the Middle Ages: memento mori (remember about death).

Death in conversation with Polikarp says that he does not forget about anyone, he comes to young and old, poor and rich, people living in accordance with values ​​and great sinners. Death directs a special warning to the latter, which also affects the recipients. Man still has a chance to convert, to change his behavior, then when Death visits him, he will no longer have to be afraid, he will be aware that eternal life awaits him. The figure of Death shows the universal dimension of this event, arouses horror, which, however, is supposed to lead to change and life for the glory of God.

However, the image of death (as well as the entire situation depicted) does not lack comic elements. Polycarp is presented as an extremely respected person, while in the face of an encounter with Death, he becomes a rather humble student, asking simple questions. Death, on the other hand, speaks in a simple language, about how she came for great earthly dignitaries, she talks freely, not paying attention to the seriousness of the situation. So we see how in the image of death horror is intertwined with comedy.

Reference to the selected context: A terrifying, but also somewhat funny image of death can be seen in medieval painting. The theme was common at the time dance macabrethe dance of death. It was supposed to show people the universal truth that death comes for a person when it wants to, so children and adults die, great dignitaries and beggars. Death “invites to dance” regardless of gender, position or status, it leads everyone in the procession. And although life is usually not fair (some are born in richer families, others in poor ones), death is like this: it affects everyone, it does not forget about anyone, everyone must become a student in her school.

Thus, in medieval paintings we see people of different classes, sexes and ages (priests, women, children) who are led by death. She is most often depicted as a fearsome skeleton or corpse. The dance itself, in combination with the serious subject of human death, builds a kind of contrast that makes a comical impression. Death depicted in medieval paintings, on the one hand, evokes horror and reminds us of the inevitability of the fact that everyone will die someday, and on the other hand, the way it is presented can be entertaining.

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